Book Symposium “Reparations by Non-State Armed Groups”: Operationalising the Duty of NSAG to Provide Reparations: Reflections from Colombia
For decades, Colombia has faced an ongoing series of armed conflicts involving a diverse range of non-official armed actors. The legal and public policy landscape of the Colombian state has had to adapt, incorporating a variety of terms to describe these groups—including guerrillas, self-defense militias, paramilitary organizations, non-state armed groups, terrorist entities, organized criminal groups, residual organized armed groups, and dissidents, among others.
This complexity of armed structures, coupled with their significant role in the perpetration of core crimes, explains why the transitional justice mechanisms established in Colombia over recent decades have focused their attention on the legal responsibility of these groups and their members in providing reparations to victims.
Dr Olivia Herman’s book, the focus of this symposium, skillfully chronicles and analyzes Colombia’s efforts in transitional justice. The third section of her work provides a thorough examination of the various legal frameworks adopted over the past two decades, exploring their judicial modifications and reinterpretations. Herman illustrates the Colombian experience as a significant case study in operationalizing the recognition of non-state armed groups (NSAGs) as legal subjects with obligations related to reparations.
Building upon Herman’s in-depth analysis, this blog post seeks to broaden the discussion by providing the political and legal context that has shaped these normative frameworks and their subsequent reforms in Colombia. While Herman’s work offers a valuable international perspective, my intention is to highlight how her analysis not only contributes to the broader global discourse on reparations by non-state armed groups but also provides crucial insights specifically relevant to the Colombian context. By contextualizing Herman’s legal analysis within Colombia’s unique circumstances, I hope to provide the expert readership of this blog with nuanced insights into the processes that may facilitate or impede the operationalisation of the Duty of NSAGs to Provide Reparations.